Underground facilities being considered by city officials
MEMORIAL PARK City Hall is digging deep for answers to its emergency water supply.
To prevent a water shortage in the event of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, officials are the construction of a reservoir at or near Memorial Park that would be capable of holding 20 million gallons of H2O.
While earthquakes or dirty bombs are potential threats, officials are also concerned about the recent contamination of city wells, rendering local drinking-water supplies even more vulnerable.
City Council is expected to approve a feasibility study tonight that will include an env ironmental analysis and identify outside financing alternatives for what could be a $30 million project, according to Gil Borboa, water resource manager for City Hall.
If constructed, the reservoir would provide the city with two extra days of drinking water and bolster the city’s supply by 50 percent. Currently, City Hall has 40 million gallons of treated waters in four reservoirs — a four-day supply.
The feasibility study is expected to cost just under $1 million, with $529,900 coming from the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“If a future earthquake or other unforeseen circumstance interrupts Metropolitan Water District (MWD) service to Santa Monica before the Charnock wells are restored to service, severe shortages of water for domestic use and fire protection would result,” Borboa wrote in a report to the council.
The city’s wells were contaminated in 1996 by the volatile, colorless, odorless fuel additive MTBE, which resulted in the loss of 80 percent of Santa Monica’s groundwater production, forcing City Hall to contract with the MWD for imported water.
Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, water from MWD was unavailable for more than a week. The city’s wells were fully functional then, however, and water service was maintained.
A $131 million settlement has been reached with three major oil companies — Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobile — for the MTBE contamination and City Hall is moving forward with steps necessary to build a water treatment plant so that the wells can once again serve the city’s needs.
City officials hope to have the plant completed by 2010, but until then, a reservoir is needed to increase storage capacity — a long-term goal of the water resources division in City Hall, Borboa said.
Tetra Tech, Inc., which will perform the study, was one of five companies to apply for the contract.
It was selected by city staff because of its approach to public outreach and experience with other underground urban reservoirs in cities such as Chula Vista, Beverly Hills, Riverside, Ontario, San Bernardino and Anaheim.
City staff is expected to return to council later in the year for discussion on the reservoir and to see what actions will be taken, if any.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.